The Wrong Brother
by Kelkale
Summary: AU Life was getting too complicated for Echizen Ryoma. First he finds himself engaged to a boy before ever knowing his name and then he realizes he may have fallen for the wrong brother. [FujiRyoma][YuutaRyoma]
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Wrong Brother

Pairing: Fuji/Ryoma Yuuta/Ryoma

Rating: PG-13

Summary: AU Life was getting too complicated for Echizen Ryoma. First he finds himself engaged to a boy before ever knowing his name and then he realizes he may have fallen for the wrong brother.

A/N: To anyone one wondering about my other story Smile for the Camera I have not abandoned it and I do intend to update fairly soon so hopefully this story will help ease the wait. Oh and Ryoma might be a little OC in this story even with the AU part because of his role.

Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of Tennis or the movie "While You Were Sleeping."

Chapter 1

He never knew his name. It was enough that he saw him from his booth every morning, amidst the bustle of suits scrambling to catch the morning compute to work. They had never spoken; Echizen already felt like enough of a heel to be obsessing over some older man like a preteen girl with her first crush.

But there was something there. Every morning the man would deposit an el token at his register and look through the glass window. He would smile, and the early light reflecting off his handsomely chiseled features would stir something inside of him that he had never known was there.

But that was it. He wasn't a lovesick female like his landlord's granddaughter. He never pictured marriage, with two kids, a dog, and a white picket fence around a picture perfect house. He wasn't an idiot either. If the man with short choppy brown hair decided to one day say hello and invite him for a drink, he wouldn't mind ending the night in his bed.

And then one morning it changed completely.

It started the same. Echizen was bored stiff collecting tokens while overweight middle-aged men in business suits shuffled past him, writing him off as a piece of the scenery like the pay phone or the graffiti on the walls. And then he was there, pausing to drop in his token and look through the glass window. There was the smile that made him feel something and then surprising enough he opened his mouth. "Merry Christmas." the voice was quiet and a little rough and yet it was perfect. Ryoma blinked and opened his own mouth to reply. Then closed his mouth as words seemed to abandon him.

'Baka!' he cursed himself under his breath as the moment past and his mystery man headed for the el platform. What the heck was wrong with him? All he had to do was say hello, or season's greetings, or even cute ass wanna screw? At least none of his co-workers had been there with him. If Momo-san had been there he would have never lived it down. His self criticisms were suddenly broken by the sound of shouts from the platform.

Echizen leaned forward over his register counter and caught a glimpse of a gang of teens gathering around his guy. They grabbed his wallet, and then shoved him hard. "Hey!" Echizen shouted, before pushing the door on his booth open and running to the platform. He didn't know why, but it always seemed to get under his skin when someone picked on anyone weaker than them. He thought it must be something to do with a conditioning of living with an idiot for so many years before his father took off.

When he reached the platform the teens were no where in sight and the young man was lying on the el tracks, unconscious with blood dripping down his face. "Sir?" Echizen called tentatively, leaning over the edge of the platform to reach for the man. All he got was a groan, and the faint sound of a whistle. Looking back he watched horror-struck as the latest el train started for their platform. Cursing in every language he knew, Echizen quickly reacted by jumping into danger and onto the tracks. He grabbed the stranger and looked back- there was no time and he couldn't throw the man up onto the platform he was bigger than him. Instinct had him pull the brown haired stranger towards him and together the two rolled quickly off the tracks onto the end of the platform in a corner between where the platform starts and the tracks end. There the el thundered past them with Echizen breathing heavily on top of his mystery man, staring inches away from the face he had imagined every night. Before he could lean down and take advantage of this perfect moment, the man opened his eyes. "Hello," Ryoma whispered before the young man's eyes closed again.

At least this time he had said something.

* * *

It was chaos in the hospital.

Ryoma had been there when the ambulance arrived and actually was allowed to ride with them. When they punched through the doors to the emergency room Ryoma was reluctant to separate from his guy especially now that they were holding hands. He imagined that now after sharing words and holding hands they could maybe jump right to the sex for their second date. Unfortunately a very persistent nurse grabbed his shoulders and separated him from the mystery man.

"I'm sorry sir but you can't go in there while the doctors are working." her name tag read An.

"But I can't leave him." Echizen surmised his common sense had left with him leaping off the el tracks because why he imagined for one moment that he a perfect stranger would be more useful than a crowd of doctors was beyond him.

"Are you family?" the girl questioned.

"Well no," Ryoma admitted truthfully only to realized quickly that this was the wrong answer. The redhead's face closed up and she spun around.

"I'm sorry sir but only family is allowed in." the girl dismissed him quickly and headed for the blocked off double doors.

"He's only the man I love." Ryoma muttered under his breath with a sigh and then blinked slowly. What the hell had he just said?

A couple feet away a certain red-haired nurse with a sweet spot for romance novels sighed as well and pushed through the double doors to check on the new patient. She sincerely hoped he was alright, the two boys made such a cute couple.

* * *

The tubes were scaring him. Why the hell were there so many needles sticking in his stranger's body? Was he really that sick? Was he about to die?

Ryoma spun around to stare at the nurse An who had brought him to the young man's room. "Is he alright?"

"Actually he's in a coma right now. The doctors aren't sure how long it will take before he wakes up. Maybe if you talk to him he would wake up for a familiar voice." An offered, giving Ryoma a gentle shove towards the bedside.

"What should I say?" Echizen asked peering closely at the handsome face now covered in stitches.

"Oh whatever comes to you I suppose. Of course you could always try other means to wake him up." An suggested with a raised eyebrow and a wink. Before Ryoma could ask what she was talking about a crowd of voices was heard outside the room.

"Is this the right room?"

"Oh there he is."

"Yuuta my darling boy what happened to you?"

The crowd of voices emerged into the hospital room and surged up towards the bed. Ryoma, feeling overwhelmed, darted back towards the door as he glimpsed what he assumed the man's family surround him. One middle aged woman holding desperately tight to his stranger's hand turned to stare at him in suspicion. "Who are you?"

"I'm-" Ryoma started then stopped as he had no clue how to explain. A stalker?

"He's the young man who saved your son from the mugging, ma'am." an officer explaining walking into the room. "He jumped right on the el tracks to save him."

Unfortunately at the same time, An had decided to be helpful. "He's Yuuta's fiancé."

And then chaos broke out.

* * *

About an hour later Ryoma found that he had now been introduced to all members of the Fuji family, complete with close family friends and had developed a strong dislike of the nurse An. Thanks to her the Fuji family now consider him Fuji Yuuta's fiance. As soon as he could he grabbed her and pulled her out into the hallway.

"What is going on? Why did you tell them I was engaged to Yuuta?" Ryoma demanded, golden eyes flashing his anger.

"Because you said so back when you first came in." An protested.

"Just because I said I loved him didn't mean we were in a relationship. I didn't even know his name." Ryoma hissed, glancing back at Yuuta's room.

"Well next time you start talking to yourself tell yourself that you're single and leave it at that." An said with a huff and spun around to leave.

"So you're not involved with Yuuta." a quiet voice spoke up behind him. Ryoma swore under his breath and spun around, surprised to find himself facing one of the Fuji family's old friends, Tezuka.

"I didn't do this to hurt him." Echizen blurted out as he stared up into the serious gaze of the older man.

Tezuka stared at him for a long moment, until Ryoma started to fidget under his gaze and then nodded. "You don't seem the sort of person to do that to Yuuta. It's just that the boy has gone through a string of bad relationships and I didn't want him hurt anymore."

"I'll tell them the truth." Ryoma promised.

"See that you do." Tezuka agreed.

And yet somehow, when they walked back into the hospital room Ryoma couldn't seem to find the words to disappoint Yuuta's parents or grandparents.

"So how did you two meet?" Yumiko, Yuuta's older sister asked.

And Ryoma found himself speechless once more.

* * *

The Fuji family could convince you to do anything. They had fully accepted him into their family, and eagerly listened to his description of the relationship that never happened. And now they had convinced him to spend Christmas night with them.

Apparently Yuuta had separated himself from the family when he got older and besides his job they really knew nothing about his life. Ryoma could tell they wanted to hear all about their prodical son but he really had nothing to go by. Tezuka kept staring at him and he knew he had run out of whatever leeway the older man had given him.

And yet he still couldn't tell them the truth. He had thought about simply never returning to the hospital and letting Tezuka explain but he couldn't do that. Somehow being with this family made him feel like he was a part of things which he hadn't experienced since his father had been around. Thinking about the old man made his face scrunch up and he frowned as he heard the doorbell ring. They already had parents, grandparents, family friends, and sibling. How many more family members were there?

He was answered by Yumiko crying out the name, "Syusuke!"

Tbc...


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this new chapter with Syusuke finally entering.

Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of Tennis or the movie "While You Were Sleeping"

Chapter 2

He was as attractive as his brother, Ryoma would give him that. If one went for that gorgeous, pretty boy type. Some might even call him the better looking brother if they stood side by side. But Echizen knew better. Fuji Syusuke was evil.

It had started innocently enough. Another Fuji relative coming in to celebrate the holidays. The brunette had apologized when he entered for his lateness and informed the family that he had already been to visit his ototo in the hospital. And then his gaze had turned on Ryoma.

"Maa, who's this nee-san?"

"Oh you don't know yet Syusuke, this is Echizen Ryoma. He's Yuuta's fiance. He saved Yuuta from being killed this morning." Yumiko explained.

Echizen attempted to smile as the older boy stared at him for a moment with sapphire eyes which seemed to see right through him. Finally Syusuke smiled (in a way which made Ryoma even more wary).

"At least you look prettier than his last girlfriend. Hmm, what was her name, Miyuki?" Syusuke seemed to ask the room at large as he sat down alarmingly close to Echizen.

"Syusuke _his_ name was Mizuki and you know that." Tezuka spoke up from his corner of the room where he had sequestered himself with a novel.

"Ah Kunimitsu you're right. I should have known. It's just when I think of that little weasel breaking my dear little brother's heart I can't help but block out the murderous thoughts going through my head." Syusuke declared dramatically, the whole time keeping his gaze on Echizen. "So Echizen-kun exactly what are your intentions towards my brother?"

Echizen returned Syusuke's stare with a glare of his own. He might be hopelessly lost in a web of lies but he was not going down to this man. "I don't see how that is any of your business Fuji-san."

There was a long silence which followed as the occupants of the room were scared of the tension between the two boys. Then Fuji Yumiko stepped into the room and declared dinner.

* * *

Dinner was awkward, and afterwards Ryoma felt like he was intruding when he witnessed the Fuji family celebrate their belated Christmas gift exchange. As soon as was polite, he murmured his thanks for the invitation to dinner and attempted to take his leave for the evening.

He had one foot on the pebble walkway and one arm in his winter coat when a delicate hand reached out and helped him slip his other arm into his coat. "You really should bundle up before you go outside Echizen-kun. We don't want you catching a cold," Syusuke gently chided the younger man.

Ryoma spun around to glare up at the elder Fuji brother. "What do you want Fuji-san?" he demanded.

Fuji smiled and stepped around him to head towards the street. "It's late Echizen-kun. It would be improper of my family to let you walk home unescorted at this time of night. Who knows what sort of trouble you could find."

Echizen froze for a moment, staring at the older boy's back as his statement sunk in. Then he darted forward, wrapping a hand around Syusuke's left arm. "Are you suggesting I need you to protect me?" Ryoma demanded as soon as Fuji turned to look at him.

"Would you like me to?" Syusuke countered with another question, "When we were little I would protect Yuuta from all the bullies on the playground." A genuine smile crossed his face at the pleasant memory.

Ryoma scowled and tried hard not to contemplate the fact of how attractive the man standing next to him looked at the moment. "I bet he hated that," he muttered under his breath to spite him.

Fuji blinked and gazed closely at the boy hanging onto his arm still. "In fact he did Echizen-kun. I apologize, I had no idea you knew my ototo so well."

Ryoma was as surprised as Syusuke had been that his guess had been correct but he recovered fast. "Che. I am his fiancé after all."

"Yes I remember." Fuji agreed. "Well Yuuta's finance could you answer a question for me?"

"What is it?" Ryoma was not fooled, this was going to be some kind of test about how much he really knew Yuuta Fuji.

"Tell me about yourself."

"What?" Ryoma had not been expecting this.

Fuji chuckled and patted Ryoma's head, messing up his hair. "Yuuta means a lot to me, he's my baby brother. Obviously you mean a lot to Yuuta so I guess that leaves me with no choice: I can either kill you or get along with you."

Echizen blinked at the brunette for a moment before staring suspiciously up at him, "What happened to Mizuki?"

* * *

"Your brother's crazy," Ryoma informed the younger Fuji brother the next morning as he sat beside his hospital bed, "We're not inviting him to the wedding."

"I thought you weren't dating," Ann asked from her position at the foot of the bed, writing in Yuuta's hospital chart.

Echizen scowled at the reminder. "Can't I have some privacy?"

Ann smiled and put the chart back. "Sure. But you may want to save your love confessions for when he's awake to hear them."

"Get out."

As Ann headed out the door laughing an orderly with an overly confident smirk on his face stalked in and swaggered up to Echizen.

"You must be Fuji Yuuta's finance, right? I was asked to give you this." the boy declared, passing over a plastic bag filled with small objects.

"What is all this?" Echizen asked.

"These are Fuji Yuuta's belongings which we took off of him the other day when he entered the hospital." the boy explained and then swung around heading for the door.

Ryoma stared at the bag before carefully pulling it open and examining the contents. There was a wallet complete with Fuji Yuuta's driver's license, a key chain with what looked like keys to a car and a house or apartment of some type, and a brown paper bag containing a can of cat food. This last one made Ryoma smile because the brand was the same one he fed Karupin. It was obvious now that Yuuta would have been someone he could have really connected with if the two of them had ever really met.

"You shouldn't be so careless," a voice commented from the door. Ryoma swung around from his seat by the bed to see Tezuka with a solemn expression on his face.

"Fuji Syusuke is not someone who fools easily. You should leave now, before either of you get hurt."

"I fooled him last night." Ryoma shot back, annoyed at this man who was barely older than himself treating him like a child.

"And how long is that going to last?" Tezuka strode over to the other boy and grabbed the plastic bag of possessions out of his hands, "Do you know what kind of car Yuuta drives? What about his apartment- any idea where he lives? Do you even know what he does for a living? You make one slip Echizen Ryoma and all this is over."

Ryoma scowled as the older boy both figuratively and literally dangled the details of Yuuta's life over his head. He knew what he was doing was insane and probably impossible to keep up for any length of time. Not to mention the fact that once his "fiance" woke up the truth would come out within seconds. And yet-

He reached up and grabbed the bag out of Tezuka's hands. "So teach me. You know all about Fuji Yuuta. I need to learn. Simple." Tezuka stared at him for a moment and Echizen kept his gaze without blinking, not willing to back down to this man.

Finally Tezuka nodded. "Alright. I have work right now but I can meet afterwards to tell you things. Where should we meet?"

Ryoma smirked as he rambled off his apartment address. He was not going down without a fight.

* * *

However when the knock came at his door that night, it was a lot earlier than he had expected. So early, in fact, that he currently had company that he was not willing to show Tezuka. Thinking quickly, Ryoma shoved said company into his closet with a small squeak and ran over to open up the door.

"You're early," he said bluntly as he swung open the door to admit Tezuka. Unfortunately, instead of Tezuka's solemn expression staring down a him, a mildly amused Fuji Syusuke smiled at him.

"Expecting someone Echizen-kun?"

"Yes." Ryoma saw no problem with the truth, to a certain point. "You can't come in."

"Maa, and I came all this way to see you too." Fuji seemed to pout in the doorway for a moment before smiling and turning to leave, "I guess I'll just have to tell Tezuka that his help wasn't appreciated."

Echizen's heart stopped beating for a moment. "Wait. What?"

Fuji swung back around, "Did I hear an invitation in your voice Echizen-kun? Well how nice of you."

Swallowing hard, Ryoma nodded his head stiffly and stepped back, allowing the smiling devil access to his apartment. Fuji wandered around inside for several minutes, picking up objects from his shelves and tables and examining them closely. Finally Ryoma couldn't take it any longer and blurted out his question. "What the hell are you doing here Fuji?"

Fuji smiled at him but before he could say anything a small sneeze came from the hall closet and Ryoma suddenly remembered the main reason he wanted to keep Fuji out.

"Now whatever could that be Echizen-kun?" Fuji asked innocently, however Ryoma could see in his eyes he already knew, or at least had an idea. Striding over to the closet door he swung it open, where a petite young woman with long brunette hair stumbled out, crashing into the elder Fuji brother. "And who would you be miss? A closet monster?"

"I'm so sorry Ryoma-kun," the girl stuttered, looking nervously up at the other man holding her steady. Her face had turned bright red from the embarrassment. "I think I'm allergic to Karupin."

"It's fine Ryuzaki. You should just go back to your grandmother now." Ryoma said with a sigh. The girl nodded furiously and scrambled out of Fuji's grasp to head out the door murmuring her goodbyes. Once the door closed and the apartment was again quiet Fuji turned his gaze on Ryoma.

"Are you cheating on my brother Ryoma?" Fuji asked in such a way that there was no answer but no.

"Not with her." Ryoma snorted. "Her grandmother is the building landlord. She keeps trying to set us up together but the girl is terrified of the entire male sex."

"So who exactly are you cheating on my brother with Echizen Ryoma?" Syusuke demanded.

"I haven't decided yet. Are you available?" Ryoma asked dryly leaning towards the other boy. Fuji for once seemed startled as he jumped away from him.

"Look why don't you just explain what you're here for so you can leave. It's obvious you don't want to be here." Echizen stated.

Syusuke nodded clearly still shaken but he shook it off quickly as he pulled out a photo album from his bag. "Kunimitsu asked me to come and show you pictures of Yuuta when he was younger."

"Alright," Ryoma agreed, not knowing exactly what he was getting into. Fuji beamed and grabbed his hand pulling him down onto the couch and thrusting what he was soon to learn was book one of Syusuke's many, many Yuuta books onto his lap. "Ah so this is Yuuta when he was born, wasn't he just adorable? And this is Yuuta at one day old- can't you just tell he was destined for great things?"

Many albums later Ryoma became quite aware that he wasn't the only one currently obsessed with Fuji Yuuta.

Tbc...


End file.
